AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY (2013) – My rating 9.5/10

Why oh why didn’t this movie get a nomination for Best Picture? There are 10 slots for Best Picture. August: Osage County, “AOC” or The Butler could have filled the last slot which remains blank. I can’t say enough about this extremely well acted and well told story. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing and seeing. Before I saw “AOC” I had my sights set on a different actress for the Best Actress award. After seeing “AOC”, hands down, Meryl Streep deserves that Oscar. Over all, the movie almost resembled a play but was so well done, it just didn’t matter. I don’t think “AOC” has gotten it’s just desserts. Additionally, I don’t think it was well marketed. I was amazed at both the direction and the acting. A cast of veteran actors really makes this movie among the best for me. Contributing to the brilliant performances in “AOC” are Julia Roberts who plays Barbara Weston, Chris Cooper who plays Charlie Aiken, Juliette Lewis who plays Karen Weston and Margo Martindale who plays Mattie Fae Aiken. The film is about a highly dysfunctional family who got that way because of their highly dysfunctional parents, brilliantly played by Meryl Streep who plays Violet Weston) and Sam Shepard who plays Beverly Weston.

Drop everything and go see August: Osage County — it’s really worth your time and money. For me, this may be Meryl’s best performance, to date! Check it out.

[AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY is nominated for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress]

 

TAKE SHELTER (2011) – My rating: 6/10

Looking for an ending!
Why do critics and potential critics get so damn philosophical when critiquing a movie?  What ever happened to being entertained or even conveying a simple message?

I will be the first to admit, Take Shelter is a confusing movie!  The wife, given the circumstances of her husband’s background, justifiably did not believe in him. Somewhere in this story, she decides to stick by him. In the end, she and their daughter sees what he sees. The audience deserves to know why their daughter was deaf, whether or not the weather was what it seemed to him and some rhyme or reason as to what happened in the end.

WE WERE LEFT HANGING AND THAT’S NOT GOOD OR ENJOYABLE. THERE’S NO CLOSURE WHICH MAKES THIS A WASTE OF TIME. WHERE IS THE MESSAGE IN THIS? Also, this movie was too slow, I had to fight to stay awake. The end make me wish I lost the fight — scenes were soooo…long, too many breaks of pure silence and finally, an ending that came without explanation.

If you have to make up the ending according to your take on this movie, you will also have to make up the answers to why his partner ratted him out, or if the rain had color to it, or if they actually were at Myrtle Beach. I didn’t want to have to rewrite the story.

I can only give this movie a 6 out of 10 — I don’t like to be left hanging!